To NYUAD students, Electra street is most known as the place you go to get a broken phone screen or dying laptop fixed. An overlooked feature of the street, however, is the back-to-back food places serving East and South East Asian cuisine. The walkability of Electra means that a food tour consisting of Chinese steamed buns, Thai green curry, and Vietnamese coffee takes less than an hour and can be neatly fit in between shuttle rides to the World Trade Center. This week, two writers from The Gazelle’s team started their exploration of Electra’s food scene with Arroy Dee Thai Restaurant, one of Abu Dhabi’s most loved spots for Thai cuisine.

The restaurant sports dishes and spices from across Thailand’s regions. For this visit, we ordered our personal favorite Thai dishes, but wager that you probably will not go wrong with getting any of Arroy Dee Thai’s items. After ordering, we were first served free chips alongside a sweet umami-based dip, and incredibly fresh hibiscus tea. Even though I love hibiscus, I have never gotten such a rich taste profile from it before, making me question all previous hibiscus experiences.

We then had our drink orders: Thai milk tea, and Thai tea with lemon. Aesthetics-wise, the drinks’ shaved ice and the large concave glasses they are served in make for a photograph-worthy visual. The milk tea reminded me of a pina colada and was sufficiently sweet. It also made for a safe haven for when I accidentally bit into a chili two dishes later. The lemon-based tea was a pleasant surprise: rather than just a hint of lemon, it resembled a refreshing fruity lemonade.

For starters, we ordered the Tom yum soup, which was the perfect combination of salty, spicy, and sour. Arroy Dee Thai knows how to make broth; no piece of lemongrass or chili added too much or too little to the base. Our web developer Hamza, who was also with me, spent most of our meal time chowing down on the soup before even delving into the main courses.

For mains, we got Pad See Ew chicken and red curry. The Pad See Ew’s sticky noodles and vegetables were seasoned phenomenally; however, its chicken, while still good, did not compare to the incredibly high standards the previous dishes had set.

The red curry was exactly what it set out to be. It balanced a deep taste profile of spiciness with lemon and a hint of sweetness, all while served in a buttery base. Alongside the jasmine rice, it made for a fan-favorite dish.

We ended the experience with mango sticky rice, which reminded me of Iranian Shir Berenj (literally, “milk rice”), a similarly sweet rice-based dessert I grew up with. The served portion of mango was also fresh and deeply sweet.

One soup, two main courses, three drinks, a side of rice, and dessert amounted to 100 AED per person, which makes, and I do not say this lightly, the best Tom yum soup you will taste in your life, student budget friendly too. Arroy Dee Thai knows exactly what to do with its vegetables and broths, and is worth a visit to Electra for.